Most people prompt AI wrong for writing ✍️

It’s been almost a year since I last published anything here.

When I joined seoClarity at the start of September, things moved fast. There was a lot to learn, a lot to build, and somewhere along the way, writing took a back seat. That’s still true today, I’m not able to share as much as I’d like.

But that constraint has forced a useful filter: if I’m going to spend time writing something, it has to be genuinely worth it, worth it over learning something new, worth it over building something. The bar is high.

Today’s prompt clears that bar easily. I use it almost every day, and it’s made me a meaningfully better communicator.

If I had to keep just one AI prompt, it would be this one.

I use it on emails, Slack messages, internal memos, PRDs, Engineering Tickets, client briefs; anything where the words need to do work. Also, I need it and love it because English isn’t my first language, and this gives me unfair advantage.

The idea is simple: instead of asking AI to “make this better,” you give it a method. A four-step process that forces it to understand your goal before touching a single word.

Here’s the prompt exactly as I use it. Paste your writing first, then add this below it.

Writing:

{{paste_your_writing_here}}
—————————————————————-

Analyze the writing above by following these steps:

Step 1 — Identify the goal. What is this piece of writing trying to accomplish? (e.g., inform, persuade, instruct, narrate) Who is the intended audience?

Step 2 — Evaluate against the goal. Given that goal and audience, identify specific shortcomings in the current writing. Consider: clarity, structure, tone, conciseness, flow, and completeness.

Step 3 — Rewrite. Rewrite the piece to address every shortcoming identified. Preserve the author’s voice and intent — only change what needs fixing.

Step 4 — Explain your changes. Briefly list what you changed and why, so the author can learn from it.